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Sellers No Longer at a Disadvantage; Buyers Going Above and Beyond for Their Next Home

MADISON, N.J. (EMBARGOED UNTIL May 29, 2013) — Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, today announced the results of its spring home selling survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive among 2,058 U.S. adults (18+) in May, 2013. The CENTURY 21® survey revealed that 33 percent of people currently searching for a home have been on the hunt for more than a year, and that the vast majority of them are willing to negotiate with sellers and make compromises to find their next home. In particular, prospective homebuyers are willing to compromise on popular amenities and their home’s location.

Since the decline of the housing market in 2006, many would-be sellers refrained from putting their homes on the market due to reservations about decreases in home values. As the real estate market recovers, the number of homes available for sale remains a challenge for the industry. Listed inventory in April is approximately 14 percent below one year earlier,[1] which underscores the dramatic reversal of the previous years’ buyers’ market status. With an increase of buyers coming into the market, the lack of available homes for sale has presented challenges for first-time and move-up homebuyers.

“For the last few years, certain homeowners have been hesitant to list their homes due to unfavorable economic conditions,” said Rick Davidson, president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. "Today, the recovery in housing continues to gain momentum, and with so many buyers in the market who are competing for so few available homes, it is a great time for sellers to speak with a real estate professional about the advantages of listing their home.

Lack of Inventory, Surplus of Offers

The CENTURY 21 spring selling survey shows there are plenty of serious buyers in the market who are actively making offers, but due to low inventory and many houses receiving multiple offers, bidding wars are becoming more common.

33 percent of those searching for a home say they have been at it for over a year, while 67 percent have been searching for up to a year.

Offers are being made, but not many are accepted: 42 percent of those searching for homes have made an offer in the past six months yet only 11 percent have had their offers accepted.

Current homeowners looking to buy are more than twice as likely to have their purchase offer accepted as those who rent (15 percent vs. 6 percent). However, renters are nearly three times as likely as homeowners to report that they made an offer but couldn’t agree on price (14 percent vs. 5 percent).

“The recovery has transformed the mindset of many buyers and sellers who grew accustomed to the buyers’ market we saw for years,” said Davidson. “Right now, we’re in a situation where buyer confidence is building back up and demand is strong. As our survey indicates, sellers are now in a more favorable position.”

Buyers Are Willing to Make Compromises to Find Their Home

With competition stiff among buyers, Century 21 Real Estate’s spring home selling survey reveals that many are willing to make compromises on both the home itself and in the negotiations with the sellers in order to get their offer a
ccepted.

85 percent of home searchers are willing to go above and beyond in order to force the deal through. Of those willing to go above and beyond, the top four comprises they’d be willing to make are:

51 percent would be flexible with the closing time.

31 percent would compromise by purchasing the house as-is.

29 percent would compromise by putting more cash down than they had planned on.

85 percent of home searchers are willing to compromise on amenities/features.

88 percent of buyers are willing to compromise on location-related attributes.

42 percent would compromise on the length of their work commute.

36 percent would compromise on access to restaurants, shopping and general conveniences.

35 percent would compromise on proximity to friends and family.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States from May 2 to May 6, 2013, among 2,058 adults ages 18 and older, of whom 365 were identified as searching for a home to purchase, by Harris Interactive on behalf of Century 21 Real Estate LLC via Harris’ Quick Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online; a full methodology is available.

[1] National Association of Realtors’ April Existing Home Sales Report – May 22, 2013

About Century 21 Real Estate LLC

Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of approximately 7,100 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 74 countries and territories worldwide with more than 100,000 sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.